1 Happy St

Tom Poston, who most will remember as the dim-witted handyman in the series "Newhart", died yesterday at the age of 85. Poston is survived by his wife, Suzanne Pleshette, whom he worked with on the "Bob Newhart Show".

Poston appeared in dozens of television shows and movies over a career that spanned over 50 years. One of Poston's lesser known roles was in the raucous adolescent comedy, Up the Academy. It that film, Poston played the flamboyant orderly, Sisson. Sisson appears in the climactic soccer scene as the prancing referee wearing short shorts and a tied off t-shirt that showed off Poston's midriff.

As a bit of trivia, Up the Academy featured Ralph Macchio in his first film, and a young Harry Teinowitz, a popular sports radio personality in Chicago.